Boca Bearings? What's your take?

[Gfish]

No.

Probably there mainly to keep the longer side(head plate) of the spool shaft from vibrating during casting & retrieving.

[Jim Dempsey]

No.

Probably there mainly to keep the longer side(head plate) of the spool shaft from vibrating during casting & retrieving.

That passes the sanity test. Actually; a good idea. I guess I'll see if there's any difference with and without.

[MarkT]

What model of Abu are you using?  Does your reel have a disengaging pinion?  If so the only bearings that are relevant to casting are the 2 spool bearings.  It has a disengaging levelwind?  When testing make sure the levelwind is in the same position (centered) for all the tests.

[Jim Dempsey]

Yes; the Revo STX has a disengaging pinion, and stationary levelwind. Actually; all of the reels that I'm testing have a disengaging pinion, but the other levelwinds are controlled by the spool. I'll have to double check on the Morrum. But; yes; I'd already planned on centering it when casting.

I'd planned on doing this all this weekend; but was injured earlier in the week. It only takes a nanosecond of inattention to nearly cost you your life. For that matter; it very well could have. I'm a grateful man. A very sore one; but grateful! Now; we have sleet moving in, so it looks like the weather's a no-go, as well. I'm still going to try to do a few short videos on the installation of bearings, as well as one on cleaning and prepping a new reel out of the box.

Another sore subject with me. Abu slathers their internals with so much grease that it actually slows the action down. I'd compare it to running on a track as opposed to running through 10 inches of water - or 10 inches of mud! I suppose that they know that many people WILL NOT properly clean and maintain their equipment (don't get me on a rant!), so they pack as much in there as they can. Problem is; grease doesn't move - by and large. So, you wind up with a huge wad of tarry grease after a while.

Me? Yeah; I'm still green behind the ears; but if I'm going to spend $500.00 on an MGXtreme; I'm going to meet, or exceed their recommendations for maintenance. I freshwater fish - at least 1-2 times a week. Every day; if I'm in town. So; every 3 months or so; I do a component level breakdown of any reel that I use extensively; perform an ultrasonic cleaning; and apply a very conservative amount of TSI-321 and Cal's to the respective components. I keep all of my reels in neoprene covers; and my rods in sheathes. Call me silly; but when you drop close to 5 grand in a years time on fishing equipment; you by God take care of it!


Thanks!

[oc1]

That third bearing is just as important to maintain as the distal ones.  I prefer reels that do not have/need them because the pin makes them fiddly to remove.  

"Synchronized" levelwind they call them; the ones that do not disengage.  OK for jigging or trolling, but not for casting.

Glad you're still with us Jim and make a speedy recovery.  

-steve

[Jim Dempsey]

That third bearing is just as important to maintain as the distal ones.  I prefer reels that do not have/need them because the pin makes them fiddly to remove.  

"Synchronized" levelwind they call them; the ones that do not disengage.  OK for jigging or trolling, but not for casting.

Glad you're still with us Jim and make a speedy recovery.  

-steve

Thanks, Steve. Still learning the proper terminology. My 10000's, and 7000's have synchronized levelwind. I haven't had a chance to check the Morrum, but guessing by the size (3600); it's likely only on retrieve, like the Revo's.

It's a little un-nerving to wake up on the ground with medics over you cutting your clothes off, and hear one of them tell the dispatcher to put "Life Flight" on standby. Fortunately; just a few hairline breaks that should mend quickly. Left a lot of skin there, though. I think that hurts worse than anything! I wish I could brag some heroic story, but I was just not paying close enough attention.

[Crow]

Glad it wasn't worse !

[Tiddlerbasher]

Wow glad your ok could have been a lot worse!

[alantani]

what did we miss?? 

[Jim Dempsey]

what did we miss?? 

Alan,

You missed an old, overweight man step off a ladder 2 rungs from the ground too soon. I stepped into my Pelican case; tripped backwards, and while still trying to catch myself; tripped on a piece of conduit that was sticking out of the concrete. This caused me to fall onto a pipe retainer that was just high enough to cause me to flip backwards, and freefall ~6 feet onto a concrete / asphalt surface, landing primarily on my elbows (both with hairline fx's of the ulna's); my right hip / butt ( complete fx of the right hip wing), and lower back (fx's of 2 transverse processes of L-4, L-5). Left about 65% of the skin from my arms from the elbows to about 4 inches from the wrists. Superficial abrasions of my hip and lower back. Guessing that I passed out from the pain / shock trauma. Luckily; nothing in the head or C-Spine. Nothing internal. Very lucky! It sounds bad, but could have been much worse. By all rights; I should be trolling for sod trout.

I appreciate the concern and well wishes. Didn't mean to host a pity party for myself or hijack my own thread. I don't do opiates; so I'm trying to tough it out. Actually; I'm still partially functional. Very slow and whiney, though...

[Jim Dempsey]

Forgot to mention: the Morrum is a retrieve only levelwind. Trying to line everything up for the first shoot sometime tomorrow. I'm going to be limited to reel cleaning and bearing installation for probably 2 weeks. Winter is starting early this year; so I'm a bit concerned about the environmental factors. The wind here is horrible! Much worse when it's in the 20's or lower.

[MarkT]

What's a retrieve only levelwind?

It's starting to cool down in Southern California. It only got up to 87 today after being over 100 a couple of days ago. It should be into the 70's by Monday.

[Jim Dempsey]

With the synchronized levelwinds; the line guide vacillates back and forth on cast and retrieve, driven by the rotation of the spool. Usually; the gear driving it is on the left side of the reel. Retrieve only; means that the levelwind is only mechanized by the shaft turning (retrieve only). IE: When you're reeling in.

[MarkT]

Gotcha. I know them as synchronized levelwinds when they stay engaged when casting (Calcutta TE300 and 400) and disengaging levelwind when they don't move when casting (Curado/Lexa/TranX).

Man, sounds like you got lucky with that fall. I'd have probably really messed myself up.

[Jim Dempsey]

I'm still learning the terminology. Bear with me...

Nah; I doubt you'd have done anything that stupid! Too big a hurry. You lose focus on safety. Usually doesn't end well. Just glad to not be eating moss muffins.